Pastor’s Message

This weekend has been one for gratitude and prayers. I am not just talking about Matariki, although that signifies a new year, a time to look back and be thankful not to the stars or the planets but to God, the creator. We always worship the creator, not created beings, including heavenly bodies.

Our community came together this weekend to pray for James, who had a stroke on Friday morning and is recovering, as well as Paula’s mum, who has also been ailing. I am sure there are other prayer needs that we had on our minds as well. I just mention those two as an example of a wider praying community. Thank you to everyone who has prayed and asked what they can do to assist during this time. 

This leads to our reflection this week from the second temptation of Jesus. Here is Matthews’ account.

In this second temptation, the scene changes from the desert to a mountaintop. A better term is a “high place”. Allegiances and oaths were historically declared in high places. The devil tries to get Jesus to declare allegiance to him at this "high place".

Notice how he uses owner language, “All this I will give to you," yet it's a lie because nothing really belongs to him. Everything belongs to the father. The irony is that the devil is asking Jesus to worship him so that he could give him “all these", which are ultimately owned by God the Father. In other words, power came with the price tag of worship and service to the enemy.

This temptation taps into our fallen nature that desires to possess things for ourselves and keep from others. Consequently, it leads us to serve the wrong master who deceives us with things of this world. We cannot serve both God and our desires or our constant craving for autonomy and power. One master has to go. This form of idolatry puts us in bondage because we are enslaved by the things we own or crave.

Jesus does not put his hope in what he can see. In the same temptation, he quotes the Shema (Old Testament writing).

We only have one Master, and that is God. Anything else we worship will ultimately fail.

We all have those high places in life, i.e., we can make our own choices; we can rely on the health system, we are smart enough to problem-solve and imagine as well as create, and we have autonomy to make decisions. Has our worship and service shifted to what we can do for ourselves and what we can acquire, rather than trusting the God we cannot see? 

Do we only move ahead when we see the way and the means for ourselves, or do we trust God and go where he calls us to? The mark of a godly congregation is where we place our trust!

Have a trusting week.

Mato.

On the pulpit this week

In the second part of Ephesians 2, Paul paints a picture of unity inspired by Christ himself. His work on earth and, ultimately, the cross.

Because of the brokenness and division in the world, Paul calls the Ephesian congregation, and by extension us, into unity with Christ, but it begins by recognising that our brokenness is indeed brokenness. He calls the Ephesian "congregation", not just the individuals, to despair and grieve in their own brokenness. Then they can be candidates of Grace.

He then turns their (our) attention to the cross and shows how Christ breaks the barrier and becomes the ultimate bridge of unity between ALL people. In the Ephesian case, it was Jews vs Gentiles, the circumcised vs the uncircumcised. Just as in the Old Testament there were two goats, one that shed blood and one that took on the sin of the world, Jesus fulfilled this dual role on the cross, breaking any barriers that ever existed.

Look at Jesus and what he has done for you; that’s the inspiration for unity. It will not be achieved through Convincing each other we are right will not be achieved through politics, compromise or reasonable debate. How fitting is it that the cross that holds us together is also a representative of laminin, the "glue" in our bodies that holds all our cells together in unity?

Prayer corner

As mentioned earlier, please keep James in your prayers as he continues to recover from the stoke he suffered last Friday. He has now been transferred to the ward from the ICU, and he is in good spirits. We will keep you updated on his wellbeing.

Please pray for Paula’s mother (Biff Hitch) as she also recovers. The specific prayer is that she is able to eat better, because she has not been eating, so that she can regain her strength and the medication can be effective. 

We also have a number of families unwell currently. The winter bugs, coughs and colds and the occasional flu that can put people down for a while.

We are in conversation with the MOE and Colliers regarding repairing the heating at church. The interesting part of this is that on the coldest morning of the year (Sunday morning was about -4 degrees in Christchurch) we did not have proper heating. Please pray that we are able to sort this out soon, because we use the space in the evenings as well.

HCC Kids

This last week, our children had a movie session. They watched David, specifically how God calls David and affirms him as a shepherd boy, not for the present but for the future.

This is part of our holiday programme as we get ready for term three. The children’s ministry coordinator has already sent our rosters for us to fill in, indicating when we are available. Thank you for those who have done that already.

The theme of term three will be I AM.

If you would like to help, and you are unsure how you can do that, I can assure you there is something for you. Please talk to Kathy McAuley, and she will point you in the right direction.

Do you have a spare book case? We would love it in HCC Kids. Also, if anyone has good quality Christian kids books we would love it for our reading corner.

Youth group is on break and we will resume on Thursday 23rd July.

Giving

Halswell Community Church

Account Number: 06-0601-0867216-00

Reference: Tithe/Offering Particulars: Your Name